{

Technology Probes Inspiring Design for and with Families

Dorian LaiUser Experience Research Lab | INSIGHT CenterAugust 1, 2011

European Union-funded interLiving project.

Working together with diverse families from Sweden, France, and the U.S.

To design and understand the potential for new technologies that support communication among diverse, distributed, multi-generational families.

Introduction

The social science goal - collecting information about the use and the users of the technology in a real-world setting.

The engineering goal - field-testing the technology.

The design goal - inspiring users and designers to think of new kinds of technology to support their needs and desires.

Why Use Technology Probes?

Installing a technology into a real use context, watching how it is used over a period of time, and then reflecting on this use to gather information about the users and inspire ideas for new technologies.

A well-designed technology probe is technically simple and flexible with respect to possible use.

What is Technology Probes?

Technology probes Should be as simple as possible, usually with a single main function and two or three easily accessible functions.

Prototypes May have many layers of functionality and address a range of needs, not all of which may even be implemented.

Distinguishing Features (Functionality)

Technology probesAlthough technology probes should not offer many functionality choices, they should be designed to be open-ended with respect to use, and users should be encouraged to reinterpret them and use them in unexpected ways.

Prototypes Are generally more focused as to purpose and expected manner of use.

Distinguishing Features (Flexibility)

Technology probes Are not primarily about usability in the HCI sense. They are not changed during the use period based on user feedback. In fact, a deliberate lack of certain functionality might be chosen in an effort to provoke the users.

PrototypesUsability is a primary concern and the design is expected to change during the use period to accommodate input from users.

Distinguishing Features (Usability)

Technology probes Collect data about users and help them (and us) generate ideas for new technology. Logging allows researchers to create visualizations of the use of the probes, which can be discussed by both users and designers.

Prototypes Can collect data as well, but this is not a primary goal.

Distinguishing Features (Logging)

Technology probes Should be introduced early in the design process as a tool for challenging pre-existing ideas and influencing future design.

Prototypes Appear later in the design process and are improved iteratively, rather than thrown away.

Distinguishing Features (Design Phase)

Two technology probes: messageProbe videoProbe

Implementation

Message Probe

Message Probe

Videoprobe

Videoprobe

Our experiences deploying the messageProbe and the videoProbe in the homes of our family design partners has led us to two promising areas of research.

Family coordination Playful interaction

Emerging Designs

Different family members have different coordination needs, and everyone makes use of different methods and tools.

Family Coordination

Families want to have fun together, even at a distance.

With the messageProbe, we saw tic-tac-toe boards(井字遊戲 ), connect-the-dots games, and family member caricatures, all bringing family members from different households into shared, playful activities.

With the videoProbe, early interactions included family members making funny faces at each other at a distance.

Family Playfulness

We believe that as technology probes, they were successful in three ways.

They helped reveal practical needs and playful desires within and between distributed families.

They provided real-life use scenarios to motivate discussion in interviews and workshops.

They introduced families to new types of technologies beyond the accustomed PC-monitor-mouse-keyboard setup, which we believe encouraged them to consider more whimsical and creative uses of technology in our design workshops.

Conclusion

Hutchinson, H., MacKay, W., Westerlund, B., Benderson, B.B., Druin, A., Plaisant, C., Beaudouin-Lafon, M., Conversy, S., Evans, H., Hansen, H., Roussel, N., Eiderbäck, B., Lindquist, S. and Sundblad, Y. Technology probes: inspiring design for and with families. Proc CHI03, ACM Press (2003), 17-24.

Reference